Smartphone With a Finger Crawls Across the Table to Stroke Your Wrist

Researchers at the University of Paris-Saclay in France have developed a realistic-looking mechanical finger that plugs into the USB port of a mobile device as an additional way to interact with a smartphone or tablet.

Credit: Marc Teyssier et al

Researchers at the University of Paris-Saclay in France have developed MobiLimb, a realistic-looking mechanical finger that plugs into the USB port of a mobile device and can be used as an additional way to interact with a smartphone or tablet.

For example, the researchers say a smiley face emoji in a text message can be given extra nuance if the finger sticking out of the bottom of the phone can stroke one’s wrist.

In addition, the mechanical appendage can also be used like a joystick.

The researchers say the main goal of the project was to overcome the limitations of mobile devices.

University of Paris-Saclay's Marc Teyssier says, "In real life, we use touch to convey emotions. A robotic extension like MobiLimb would be capable of transmitting a remote touch from someone."